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<p id="lead"><i>Book Owners Online</i> is a directory of historical book owners, with information about their libraries, and signposts to further reference sources. It covers English seventeenth-century owners – people who died between 1610 and 1715 – with the potential to be expanded. </p>
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<p id="lead"><i>Book Owners Online</i> is a [https://www.bookowners.online/Category:All_Owners directory of historical book owners], with information about their libraries, and signposts to further sources. It currently has entries for over 2900 British owners from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and is being expanded. Contributions from users are welcome via our [https://bookowners.online/Contact submission forms], and feedback can be sent via [mailto:bookownersonline@bibsoc.org.uk email] or our [https://forms.gle/tJyBvaibJhrVKwH39 anonymous user survey]. You can also find us on [https://twitter.com/BookOwners Twitter] and [https://www.facebook.com/groups/424763118619629 Facebook].
  
[[file:William-dugdale-detail.jpg | thumb| 886px| link= |[[Sir William Dugdale]]: etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1656 ([https://bookowners.online/File:William-dugdale-detail.jpg detail])]]
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[[file:William-dugdale-detail.jpg | thumb| 480px| link= |[[William Dugdale 1605-1685|William Dugdale]]: etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1656 ([https://bookowners.online/File:William-dugdale-detail.jpg detail])]]
  
It exists to enhance our book historical reference sources, at a time of growing interest in provenance studies, private libraries, and work on the material book. There are many online sites which start from books or libraries and provide provenance data, but BOO starts from owners, and summarises what we know about their books, where they are or what happened to them, how big their libraries were, and where to go for further information. Starting from a named individual, key questions which BOO seeks to answer include “did this person own books?” and “where do I look for more information?”.
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Book owners played an essential role in creating the documentary heritage we value today. Our libraries, curating our collective printed and written memory, were built on countless donations or purchases from individuals over the centuries. Books which they kept and valued have significantly shaped ideas about our literary legacy.
  
Book owners have played an essential role in creating the library heritage we value today. The holdings of our research libraries, which constitute our collective printed memory, were built on countless donations or purchases from individuals over the centuries. Books which they kept and valued have significantly shaped our ideas about our literary legacy.
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Key questions which BOO seeks to answer include “did this person own books?”, "how many and what kind?", "what happened to them?", and “where do I look for more information?”. At a time of growing interest in provenance studies, private libraries, and work on the material book, it fills a gap in our book historical reference sources. There are many online sites which start from books or libraries and provide provenance data, but BOO starts with owners.
  
 
==Getting Around the Site==
 
==Getting Around the Site==
  
 
<div class="two-columns"> [[About | <dl><dt>About this Site</dt>  
 
<div class="two-columns"> [[About | <dl><dt>About this Site</dt>  
<dd>Book Owners Online is a publication of the Bibliographical Society in partnership with the UCL Centre for Lives and Letters (CELL), with a rationale developed by David Pearson.</dd></dl>]] [[User Guide | <dl><dt>HOw to use Book Owners Online</dt>  
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<dd>Book Owners Online is a publication of the Bibliographical Society in partnership with the UCL Centre for Lives and Letters (CELL), with a rationale developed by David Pearson.</dd></dl>]] [[User Guide | <dl><dt>What's in BOO</dt>  
<dd>Book Owners Online is built around a backbone of named owners of libraries, both individuals and families, each of whom has an entry with a standard structure.</dd></dl>]] [[Searching and Browsing |<dl><dt>Searching and Browsing</dt>  
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<dd>Book Owners Online is built around a backbone of named owners of libraries, who died between the 16th and 18th centuries, for each of whom there is an entry with a standard structure.</dd></dl>]] [[Searching and Browsing |<dl><dt>How to use BOO</dt>  
<dd>Book Owners Online works much like Wikipedia. Search using simple keywords in the box above or browse using lists of categories.</dd></dl>]]
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<dd>Book Owners Online works much like Wikipedia. Search using simple keywords in the box above, or browse using special semantic features.</dd></dl>]]
 
[[Editorial Team| <dl><dt>Editorial Team</dt>  
 
[[Editorial Team| <dl><dt>Editorial Team</dt>  
<dd>Book Owners Online has an editorial team of three researchers, supported by an advisory group of external experts, including academics, librarians, and bibliophiles.</dd></dl>]] [[Acknowledgements | <dl><dt>Acknowledgements</dt>  
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<dd>Book Owners Online has an editorial team of researchers and volunteers, supported by an advisory group of external experts, including academics, librarians, and bibliophiles.</dd></dl>]] [[Acknowledgements | <dl><dt>Acknowledgements</dt>  
 
<dd>Book Owners Online wishes to acknowledge the help of its funders and those institutions that have granted permission for use of images of books in their collections on the site.</dd></dl>]] [[Contact|<dl><dt>Contact Us : Help Us</dt>  
 
<dd>Book Owners Online wishes to acknowledge the help of its funders and those institutions that have granted permission for use of images of books in their collections on the site.</dd></dl>]] [[Contact|<dl><dt>Contact Us : Help Us</dt>  
<dd>Contact details for the Book Owners Online office and editors. We welcome all comments, corrections, and suggestions.</dd>
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<dd>Contact details for the Book Owners Online office and editors. We welcome all comments, corrections, contributions, and suggestions.</dd>
 
</dl></dl>]]</div>
 
</dl></dl>]]</div>
  
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<div class="teaser">[[File:Patrick-cropped.jpeg | link=John_Patrick | 720px]]
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<div class="teaser">[[File:SheppardStamp2.JPG | link=Thomas Sheppard d.1763 | 500px]]
  
[[John_Patrick | John Patrick bequeathed all his books (along with the residue of his estate more generally) to his brother Simon, who estimated that the library had cost him over £1000 to assemble.]]</div>
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[[Thomas Sheppard d.1763 | Has anyone seen this sheep? This ink stamp was used around the late 17th/early 18th century by the Sheppard family, and numerous books survive, but their identity is elusive]]</div>
  
  
<div class="teaser">[[File:Field-cropped.jpg| link=Henry_Field| 720px]]
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<div class="teaser">[[File:P1330354(1).JPG | link=David Hughes 1704-1777 |500px]]
  
[[Henry_Field | A number of Henry Field’s books survive with distinctive manuscript book labels in red ink, "Henry Feilde", with running numbers suggesting a sizeable library.]]</div>
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[[David Hughes 1704-1777 | David Hughes (1704-1777), Vice-President of Queens' College, Cambridge, bequeathed over 5000 books and pamphlets to his College; he marked each book he bought with distinctive codes to remind him where he bought it and how much he paid]]</div>
  
 
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File:cell-logo.png|link=http://www.livesandletters.ac.uk/  
 
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file:Semantic-MediaWiki-logo.png|link=https://www.semantic-mediawiki.org/wiki/Semantic_MediaWiki
 
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Latest revision as of 13:09, 23 October 2024

Book Owners Online is a directory of historical book owners, with information about their libraries, and signposts to further sources. It currently has entries for over 2900 British owners from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and is being expanded. Contributions from users are welcome via our submission forms, and feedback can be sent via email or our anonymous user survey. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

William Dugdale: etching by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1656 (detail)

Book owners played an essential role in creating the documentary heritage we value today. Our libraries, curating our collective printed and written memory, were built on countless donations or purchases from individuals over the centuries. Books which they kept and valued have significantly shaped ideas about our literary legacy.

Key questions which BOO seeks to answer include “did this person own books?”, "how many and what kind?", "what happened to them?", and “where do I look for more information?”. At a time of growing interest in provenance studies, private libraries, and work on the material book, it fills a gap in our book historical reference sources. There are many online sites which start from books or libraries and provide provenance data, but BOO starts with owners.

Getting Around the Site

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